Franco Columbu’s Complete Book of Bodybuilding Read online

  Not only that, but Franco sees thousands of patients a year in his chiropractic practice, and he gets to observe the results of any physical or nutritional recommendation he might make. If there is anything that doesn’t really work, he finds that out firsthand. And this constant dealing with reality is probably the best kind of research you can do.

  All in all, I can think of nobody more impressive in his accomplishments than Dr. Franco Columbu. By the force of his own will, he has made himself into a champion in boxing, powerlifting, and bodybuilding. He came to this country with nothing, not even speaking the language, and now he is a doctor, an author, and a successful businessman.

  Arnold pushes Franco to do another grueling rep.

  Those of us who have come to this country from elsewhere are very conscious of what is called the “American Dream,” the ability of an individual to make whatever he can of himself in this country, no matter where he comes from, his race, religion, or economic background. That is a very powerful idea, and I know of nobody who embodies it more completely than Franco.

  A Horatio Alger story — from rags to riches. Franco Columbu is, indeed, a very special individual. And someone I am glad to call a very good friend.

  Preface

  If you have just finished reading Arnold’s Foreword, you know about my qualifications for writing this book. I would like to mention one other thing that should convince you that this book can guide you to achieve your personal health and fitness goals.

  Several months after my first Mr. Olympia victory, my left knee was severely injured. No one who has not had a similar accident can imagine the pain — coupled with the mental anguish over possibly losing the use of a leg — that I suffered.

  I was told that I could not compete again. However, I would not give up hope. Through my knowledge of corrective exercise along with therapy and chiropractic care, I was able to gradually place more and more stress on my injured leg. It took five long years to work myself into shape — better shape than I have ever been in before. And I won the 1981 Mr. Olympia by a greater margin than I did in 1976, and against a stronger field of competitors.

  It is my desire that you will enrich your life and learn to maintain a healthy body and mind by studying the information in this book. I want you to achieve maximum results with your body in the least amount of time, which is the same goal for the competitive bodybuilder as it is for the noncompetitive bodybuilder.

  I have included a basic training and nutrition program for the executive who has a limited amount of time to spend exercising (Chapter 1). In Chapters 2, 3, and 4, I have provided detailed information on equipment, anatomy, training schedules, training partners, attitude, exercise routines on many levels, and techniques and strategies for competition, posing, and sportsmanship — all for those who seek to become bodybuilders at their own level of preference and performance.

  I have prepared a brief, yet comprehensive, training program for female bodybuilders in Chapter 5.

  For athletes who wish to improve their performance in other sports, I present specialized training routines and tips for over a dozen different sports in Chapter 6. And all athletes will want to learn about preventing and treating sports injuries covered in Chapter 7.

  Because nutrition is such an essential part of bodybuilding and staying fit and healthy, I have devoted all of Chapter 8 to this subject. In fact, this chapter was so chock-full of information that my editors, for some reason, broke up my original manuscript so part of it appears in an appendix in the back of the book. For essential information on vitamins and minerals, you will need to look at the Appendix. Another part appears as Chapter 9, where I discuss the use of steroids and other drugs.

  Finally, Chapter 10 will reiterate the important points to be found in this book. In that chapter, I will summarize the many benefits of bodybuilding that I and countless others have enjoyed, which I want to share with you.

  So you won’t have to flip through the various chapters in this book on exercise routines, I have put together an Exercise Glossary. It supplies photos of me performing each exercise in strict form and precise instructions on how to perform them.

  And that is all. I have tried to provide something for everyone, to ensure that this is, indeed, the complete book of bodybuilding. I wish you the best: a strong body, a healthy mind, and a long happy life.

  Introduction

  It is safe to assume that in prehistoric times only the strong survived, because it was the nature of the world. The survival of the fittest continued into recorded history. Whether king or slave, warrior or gladiator, the men of ancient times sought strong and muscular bodies through physical labor and physical combat and contests.

  Now, the sport of bodybuilding is in its golden age, Millions of men (and women), in their search for fitness and exercise, have spurred manufacturers to develop new and efficient means of improving physical fitness. The trend toward physical fitness has caused a boom in industries developing weight resistance equipment. Professional and collegiate teams of every major sport have added compulsory weight regimens to their athletic programs. When it comes to training with weights and what it can do for your body and sports performance, today’s real bodybuilding experts know volumes and volumes more than did authorities of earlier days.

  What history tells us about bodybuilding — and it certainly remains true today — is that its best practitioners were men accustomed to hard work. The poses affected in many heroic Grecian statues suggest that the ancient Greeks were builders whose muscular bodies were shaped through hard manual labor, which was carried on daily.

  If bodybuilding began as a result of the lifestyle of the ancient Greeks, then surely weight resistance training began with the Roman gladiators. These slave-warriors were forced to wield painfully heavy weapons — swords, shields, tridents, maces … the whole business. Those who survived such combat, with equipment that most likely weighed just a fraction less than their bodies, must have been formidable foes.

  The Renaissance introduced the first paintings of muscular men, the works of my left-handed countrymen, Leonardo Da Vinci and Michelangelo. Their drawings and paintings differ in their interpretation of muscularity, and for good reason. Leonardo’s passion for medicine actually motivated him to dissect Cadavers and produce drawings from what he saw. Michelangelo left more to his imagination, and as a result, his paintings show more muscular size and less definition than do Da Vinci’s drawings.

  Competitive bodybuilding began in England. The earliest physique contests were little more than sideshow attractions at countryside fairs and carnivals. The contestants worked out with crude dumbbells fashioned from stones. England also produced the legendary Sandow, who introduced the entire “strongman” concept to America. Promoted by the fabulous Florenz Ziegfeld, Sandow blithely hoisted entire families and their children over his head. Three generations of relatives and their dogs from all over this country saw Sandow perform. His prowess generally reminded society that there actually was a masculine shape that one might have.

  From the 1930s on, the sport spawned one or two significant heroes each decade. The 1930s introduced Charles Atlas (real name, Angelo Siciliano). Atlas could fairly be called one of the founding fathers of the bodybuilding business.

  Stars of the 1940s included John Grimek, one of the all-time superstars of the sport and the man for whom the rule was passed forbidding Mr. America winners to succeed themselves. Grimek was probably further in front of the field of his day than any champion has been since. Toward the end of the decade, Steve Reeves rose to prominence. Grimek and Reeves won back-to-back Mr. Universe titles in London in 1949 and 1950. Reeves and many other excellent bodybuilders also appeared in a pleasant little musical film, Athena, in the early 1950s. (Of course, Reeves would grace the screens again, nearly a decade later, in a totally different role.)

  Marvin Eder was another star of that era whose accomplishments especially intrigue me. He is widely considered one of the strongest bodybuilders who e
ver lived. Eder’s records are still impressive today, but are truly dazzling by the standards of over thirty years ago: a 500-pound bench press (Eder weighed less than 200), 10 curls with 200 pounds, 10 sets of 10 chin-ups each with 200 pounds strapped to his waist. While there is no way to compare Eder’s strength directly with mine, I can tell you that if we had had each other’s motivation as training partners, we could have set strength records to stand until the next millennium.

  The 1950s produced a flurry of bodybuilders who were heralded as the best of their time: Reg Park, one of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s early idols; Clarence Ross; George Eifferman; and Bill Pearl. Pearl would go on to accomplish the astonishing feat of winning two Mr. Universe titles twenty years apart. And then the late ‘50s found bodybuilding receiving a great shot in the arm, in the form of Steve Reeves portraying Hercules in Italian movies. Time magazine called Reeves’s acting “considerably more expressive than King Kong’s,” and Life magazine ran a feature on him. He was a box office sensation in Europe, where bodybuilding has always been extremely popular. And his films spawned many heroic imitators, including Mark Forrest (“Lou Degni” to the bodybuilding world), Ed Fury, Kirk Morris, Gordon Scott, and others. All their films missed cinematic greatness by a goodly margin, but they ushered in the 1960s and the rapid awakening of the country’s consciousness toward fitness in general.

  By the 1960s, bodybuilding contests were very popular. A Mr. Universe winner, Dave Draper, made films with Tony Curtis and Tuesday Weld. The two reigning stars of the decade were Larry Scott, who was the first Mr. Olympia, and Sergio Oliva, who held the title for the next three years after Larry Scott. Sergio Oliva has the all-time classic bodybuilding physique. His body truly represents every bodybuilder’s ideal — strength, muscularity, and definition.

  After Sergio, the new bodybuilding stars were Arnold Schwarzenegger and Frank Zane. They were both Mr. Universe winners (each won several times). Arnold then went on to conquer the Mr. Olympia title seven times (six of those were won consecutively). I won the title after Arnold, and Frank Zane followed me as a Mr. Olympia winner. The first five Mr. Olympia winners — Scott, Oliva, Arnold, Frank Zane, and I — were all accorded superstar status. The movie and book Pumping Iron made the general public more aware of bodybuilders and bodybuilding.

  Probably the most famous name in bodybuilding is the name Weider. For the past 40 years, Joe and Ben Weider have actively advanced the sport of bodybuilding. Ben Weider is the founder and president of the IFBB (International Federation of Bodybuilders). This is a worldwide association with tens of thousands of members. Joseph Weider is the founder of Muscle & Fitness magazine, which is one of the oldest and most popular bodybuilding publications around. He is an avid promoter of all aspects of health and fitness. Without the dedication of the Weider brothers, bodybuilding would not be where it is today.

  There are all types of equipment manufactured today, ranging from free-style weights to specialized machinery for all parts of the body. Health clubs and gyms have a wide variety of equipment for all types of exercise, including training for other sports as well as bodybuilding. So the sport is truly advancing, with plenty of gyms, equipment, and new techniques and technologies.

  Exercise is becoming more popular each day. Research has shown that physical exercise is the number one way to combat most degenerative diseases. The benefits are endless, and bodybuilding in particular is the greatest way to achieve a strong, healthy body. This book will advance your knowledge of bodybuilding and weight training so you can reap these benefits.

  Chapter 1

  A BASIC HEALTH & FITNESS PRPOGRAM

  “Franco, you really make me feel ashamed of myself,” a well-known television talk show host said to me recently after we had finished taping an interview. “I really wish I could stay in great shape the way you do, but I just don’t have the time to get to the gym every day.” He patted himself on the tummy and gave me an embarrassed smile. “But I’m afraid it’s beginning to show.”

  That conversation really got me thinking. There are a lot of men in the same boat; so busy, they are reluctant to take time to exercise and take care of themselves. Also, many of them eat out very often and have difficulty in getting proper nutrition. But this reluctance about nutrition and exercise has unfortunate results. Many successful men let their health suffer and suddenly find their careers cut short by diseases associated with physical deterioration; a heart attack, stroke, or serious ulcer is simply too high a price to pay for success.

  Health is too important an element of life to let slide. With a minimum amount of training and by watching your diet, you can protect your health as well as raise your energy level and your mental outlook. You will look better, feel better, and be a lot better at whatever you choose to do.

  Exercise and nutrition are as much tools of business as the typewriter, the telephone, or factories. Without your health, nothing else can be achieved. But since finding time is a problem, I believe an important fitness program would be one that uses the absolute minimum amount of exercise (and, therefore, time) to protect against physical deterioration. Maybe you cannot get to the gym regularly, or you spend a lot of time on the road and have trouble getting any amount of exercise. Nonetheless, by setting aside no more than 15-20 minutes a few times a week, you can put your body through enough training so that your health will not suffer. This kind of program will not get you in shape for the Super Bowl, but it will help to ensure that you are around for a great many football games to come.

  The key to success lies in adapting your training to your surroundings. At home you can use some simple and basic equipment to aid you in your workouts. On the road you can substitute exercises that do not require the use of weights or other equipment. And no matter where you are, you can ensure that your muscles, tendons, joints, and ligaments are kept stretched and flexible, and that your abdominal muscles remain flat, hard, and strong.

  Introduction to the Training Program

  I have developed a training program for the busy person or executive so he or she can get the best workout in the shortest possible time. It also can be adapted for the person who travels a lot. The program works on the following three levels:

  Warm-up and Conditioning Exercises — stretching movements and exercises to condition the abdominal muscles.

  Beginning Resistance Exercises — using gravity and the weight of your own body to strengthen and develop your muscles and cardiovascular system.

  Weight Training Exercises — accelerating the adaption of your muscles to exercise by the use of dumbbells.

  This program is progressive. You begin with the first level, learn the exercises, and continue to do them until you feel you are ready to undertake more strenuous training. At that point, you add the second level to your training, but you don’t abandon the first. Your workouts will now consist of both level one and level two, one level right after the other.

  The second level of exercises will continue to strengthen your muscles and prepare you for the weight-training movements in the third level. The only equipment needed for this level of training is a pair of dumbbells. When you feel ready for level three, weight training, the level two exercises serve as a good preliminary warm-up.

  There will be times when you don’t have access to dumbbells or other weight-training equipment. When such times arise, you can rely on your second level exercises and merely do twice as many sets as you would if you were going to do level three exercises in your workout.

  How Often to Train. I recommend that you try to exercise a minimum of three and a maximum of five days a week. You should try to schedule one day of rest between training days to give your body a chance to rest and recuperate.

  When to Train. Some people prefer exercising in the morning when they are fresh, while others would rather train at the end of a busy day to help them relax and wind down from work. Either way is all right. Just avoid training too quickly after a meal, because this takes blood away from the stomach where it
is needed for digestion.

  Missing Workouts. Nobody is perfect, and you are bound to miss some scheduled workouts. If you do, simply go ahead and do your training at the next opportunity — later that day, in the evening, or even the next day. Don’t feel too guilty if you miss some training, but be honest with yourself and realize that you will not get the benefits of health and strength you are seeking if you miss workouts too often.

  Abdominals (Abs) and Stretching. The exercises in level one are unique in that you can do them more often than those in the other levels without interfering with the body’s recuperation. Therefore I recommend that you do some stretching and ab work every day that you can. These exercises are especially important when you are traveling, since being on the road creates tension and tension can drain the body of energy.

  About Equipment. Progressive resistance weight training works best when you add weight to an exercise whenever you find that movement is getting too easy. Therefore, a set of solid dumbbells that suits you one month, will be too light the next. If you never plan to become a bodybuilder, you should probably buy a pair of adjustable dumbbells to which you can add weight as you progress.

  Level 1: Warm-up and Conditioning Exercises

  Stretching movements are designed to elongate the muscle-tendon, joint-ligament structures of the body and to promote relaxation and the easing of tension. But it doesn’t make any sense to do relaxing movements in a tense, aggressive manner. Take your time, use the breath to help relax the body, and give it time to stretch out.